our summer: part I

Mark gets home from Africa (and once he gets back from ENGLAND, he'll be able to post about his adventures in Uganda.)

The night Mark got back--I forgot to take an epic picture of him in the airport, all scruffy with his backpack, because I was too excited to see him and too eager to be outta there and go eat our Cafe Rio--Mark's special request. :) So, I had to document at least one picture of the day he got home, so *click*, done, documented. He's home.

4th of July

We went up to Mark's folk's cabin for a little getaway and to celebrate Mark's return. We also celebrated the Fourth of July up there, complete with pig racing, rodeos, and yes, even Glenn Beck.

Glenn Beck was in town (Driggs, ID--not the biggest town in the US of A), invited by Jon Huntsman Sr. to speak before the fireworks. When we drove into town, we passed this sign saying "Welcome Glenn Beck." Mark asked me "Is Glenn Beck coming or something?" I was like, "Nah, there's no way that he'd come to a small town like this. Maybe he drove through town recently." But sure enough, he was a headliner at that weekend's events. Huntsman recently built a big, beautiful amphitheater up there, and Glenn Beck was the invited guest. What's more American than Glenn? Maybe pig racing. But Glenn is a close second. He had an enormous crowd of people waiting for his speech. Mark and I couldn't pass up the opportunity, so we showed up. It was actually quite nice, though Mark was disappointed that Glenn didn't say anything crazy. But, we enjoyed the evening, especially the fireworks. I LOVE fireworks, especially when they play great American classics (like anything by Neil Diamond) and the fireworks go with the music. AWESOME!

Our legit cowboy gear--we had to get ready for the local festivities.

Waiting for pig racing. We probably waited for 45 minutes in the sun to watch pigs run around a small pen for about 6 seconds. It was totally worth it.

The RODEO - I LOVE rodeos.

My rodeo hamburger--yum.

So beautiful up in Tetonia.

Sitting on the grass before the fireworks.

Proof that we were actually there for Glenn Beck. You can kinda see him on the big screen there.

The parade--we went down to the parade the morning of the 4th and were so disappointed we didn't have our camera (we left it in the car on accident). It was so quaint and there were lots of trucks, horses, and taffy. The best moment was the float for the Teton Valley Tea Party. So apropos. But, we got a picture of the taffy that I gathered at the parade. Another wonderful part of this holiday.

You have now learned that I am obsessed with the 4th of July and think everything about it is terrific. Next, we went on a hike on the 4th and hiked until we hit snow. Beautiful place!

A magical moment in the woods.

We made some great meals while up the cabin--here's our Sunday salmon meal.

We had a wonderful time together and just enjoyed being together after 2 long months apart.

Family Reunion--the next weekend we went up to Bear Lake to spend time with Mark's family. It was soooo fun. Mark's fam is totally fun and incredible and we loved spending time with the cute nieces and nephews.

Me on the beach with a very cute boy.

In just a few days, Mark and I were going to set off for our next adventure to Europe. In the words Ira Glass: "Stay with us." Pictures of European adventurers coming soon.